Friday 13th January 2012

Extravaganza Presents

Jed Harper
Diffused | Provoke | Canada
http://www.jedharper.com/

Spawned and groomed in to society in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, JED HARPER was obsessed with music from an early age, which he initially expressed in his teens as a Hip Hop DJ under the name JEDI. Knowing that he wanted to make music his life’s work, JED HARPER completed a Bachelors Degree in Radio & Television Arts at Ryerson University, which lead him to the epicenter of Canada’s nightlife community; Toronto.

While still attending University, JED HARPER began playing open format “mash up” sets around Toronto, which caught the attention of CKLN radio station; who helped him land his first residency at VINCE CARTER’s INSIDE nightclub in 2001. After signing as a resident at INSIDE, the offers started rolling in, and JED HARPER (under the name JEDI) quickly became a leading force in the new sound of “mash up”. “At the time, you either played Hip Hop, or you played House”, explains Jed. “I would typically be playing a 5 hour set at my residencies; so playing one genre was really limiting, and got dull quickly. So I started playing whatever I wanted; and it worked. This was when mash-up was starting to explode, so everyone was booking me; and I was playing out typically 6 nights a week for years.” Over the course of the next 8 years, JED HARPER held the title of main resident at a majority of Toronto’s leading nightclubs, including GUVERNMENT, CiRCA, THIS IS LONDON, CENTURY ROOM, LOT 332, CHEVAL, COBRA; the list goes on. You name the club; he was probably the resident at its height of popularity.

Along the way, JED HARPER had a plethora of achievements, including Deejaying for KANYE WEST, and performing alongside names such as DAVID GUETTA, ROGER SANCHEZ, BASEMENT JAXX, BLACK EYED PEAS, and WYCLEF JEAN. JED HARPER’s success also found him being requested to perform at celebrity parties for icons such as SEAN COMB’s (P-DIDDY), PARIS HILTON, NELLY FURTARDO, and JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. To top off his list of name dropping, JED HARPER was also honoured with the offer to become the OFFICIAL TORONTO BLUE JAYS DJAY; a title that he still holds proudly.

In 2008, JED HARPER focused on pursing his love for electronic music, and launched his own record label, BAD CONCEPT RECORDS. In 2009, he released his first original production “GET IT GIRL Featuring CHOCLAIR”, which sat in the Beatport Top 100 for 5 weeks, reaching #31. Since then, JED HARPER has been producing & song writing for GIRLICIOUS (“2 In The Morning”; #35 Canadian Hot 100, #29 Canadian Hot AC), MEISA KUROKI (“Bye Bye My Friend”; #5 OMNICRON Chart), HOWIE of the BACKSTREET BOYS (“One Hundred”; TBR), and remixes for JRDN (“You Can Have It All”), CANDY COATED KILLERS (“Neon Black”), and DY & DANNY FERNANDES (“Passenger”). This year also saw Jed being requested on the festival circuit, including sets at ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL in Miami, USA, and THE BPM FESTIVAL in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

In 2010, JED HARPER decided to hang up the name “JEDI”, and focus on electronic music production full time, under his real name. “I was spending so much time in the studio writing music, and everything that was coming out of me was house music”, explains Jed. “I had wanted to drop the name JEDI for a while; and I felt like this was the right time to do it. I was making a change in my music direction; and this seemed like a good anchor to identify the change”. To further signify the change in his sound, JED HARPER also started producing events through BAD CONCEPT RECORDS and began inviting guests such as JOACHIM GARRAUD, EDDIE HALLIWELL, and MICHAEL WOODS to perform. “I didn’t want to be producing electronic music all day, and then playing mash-up sets at night; it didn’t make any sense”, continues Jed. “I had 6 weekly residencies at the time, and was playing out from Tuesday to Sunday. So I pulled out of a few of my projects to focus on producing events that catered to my sound. My new focus is to make BAD CONCEPT RECORDS a completely 360 label, and have all of the projects I’m working on compliment each other”.

2011 sees JED HARPER continue with his fully loaded schedule; including DJ tour dates across North America, an onslaught of both original & remix productions, and producing events around the Toronto area.

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For more information and reservations:

[email protected]

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